28. Crogan's Loyalty by Chris Schweizer

Crogan's Loyalty by Chris Schweizer (US) - (Canada
The Crogan Adventures, #3

Pages: 170
Ages: 12+
Finished: Jan. 26, 2012
First Published: May 29, 2012
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: children, YA, graphic novel, historical fiction
Rating: 4/5


First sentence: "You shouldn't have invited him without talking to me first."


Acquired: Received an egalley from Oni Press through NetGalley.


Publisher's Summary: "The fan-favorite graphic novel series from Eisner-nominated cartoonist Chris Schweizer returns with an all-new adventure! Charles and William Crogan are two brothers with very different perspectives on family, country, and loyalty. Now they find themselves on opposite sides of the brewing conflict between colonial separatists and those still determined to serve the British Crown. Will their brotherhood be washed away in the bloodshed of the War or will their own ties endure?"

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

I love this series!  The third book continues on in the manner we have come to expect.  Wonderful, touching story, insightful and thought provoking with plenty of action and some humour as well.  The black & white illustrations fit the story nicely and I enjoy the artwork.  The books follow no common storyline so reading order is really of no importance and they skip around through time.  As usual the book opens with the modern day Crogan family having a little incident and the father finding time to tell his two sons about a male Crogan ancestor to illustrate a point similar to the conflict going on with the boys' lives today.  This is a story of brothers disagreeing, but how it all boils down in the end to the old saying that "blood is thicker than water."

This being a story of the American Revolution, I was prepared for the Loyalist brother to be the bad guy along with the British army, but was pleasantly surprised to find that both sides of the story were told here without bias.  Why each brother chose the side they did was explored and neither one was shown as "wrong" in any sense, nor were the British portrayed as "bad guys".  The book focused mostly on the brothers and portrayed the other soldiers/officers as people with good and bad characteristics, reminding us that all soldiers in war are underneath the uniform, just ordinary folks whichever "side" they are on.  The only fault I would mention is that this volume did not have as much derring-do as the previous two volumes, there was some, but not quite on par with the first ones.  Otherwise, a great, and unique, presentation on the beginnings of the Revolutionary War and mightily enjoyed by this Canadian who just happens to live in the heart Loyalist Country.